Mica, Stuart - Similar Backgrounds, Different Views

Campaign 1996

Both Candidates In The Race For The District 7 House Seat Have Had Long Political Careers.

October 30, 1996|By Sharon McBreen of The Sentinel Staff

Republican John Mica says he's a ''project-oriented congressman'' who is concerned about the environment, responsive to constituents and an advocate for transportation.

His Democratic challenger, George Stuart Jr., calls Mica an ''anti-choice, anti-seniors, anti-environment'' radical conservative who does the bidding of Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

In the campaign for the U.S. House District 7 seat, which covers Seminole, Orange and southwest Volusia counties, the two clash on the issues.

Also, Mica is a millionaire while Stuart has had to use campaign money to pay his salary.

Their backgrounds, however, are similar. Both parlayed longtime political careers into lobbying jobs - Stuart at the state level and Mica on Capitol Hill - before returning to politics.

Mica, 53, served as a state representative from 1976 to 1980, then worked for U.S. Sen. Paula Hawkins for five years. He is a real estate developer and international business consultant.

Stuart, 50, is a former Orlando City Council member whose family owned an office supply company. He served in the state Senate for 12 years until he quit to run for governor in 1990. When Lawton Chiles also decided to run, Stuart dropped out and unsuccessfully ran for insurance commissioner.

Chiles appointed Stuart to head the Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Tallahassee. Stuart resigned in January 1995 after allegations of widespread mismanagement. Since then, he has operated a consulting firm specializing in government relations and business development.

Stuart expects to win in Volusia, where registration is slightly more Democratic than Republican. He knows the battle in Seminole will be tougher, where District 7 Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 15 percent.

He is at a financial disadvantage. Mica has raised $476,801 to Stuart's $129,190. Mica has spent $353,244, compared with Stuart's $90,124.

While Mica's largest single campaign expense - $150,300 - has been for television advertising, Stuart's heaviest burden has been paying his own expenses.

He reported spending about $90,000 through Oct. 16. Slightly more than a quarter of that amount - $22,960 - he has paid himself, campaign finance reports show.

Stuart has collected $15,000 in ''wages'' and the rest as reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses from the campaign, reports show.

Stuart said Tuesday he is paying himself an average monthly salary of $5,000 because he had to give up his consulting job to campaign full time.

He said reimbursed expenses are primarily campaign-related phone calls made from home and mileage for campaign use of his car.

Though acknowledging that a ''high percentage'' of his campaign kitty is going into his own pocket, Stuart defended the expenditures as necessary to put him on a ''level playing field'' with Mica.

''When you're running against a congressman being paid $135,000 a year in the public's money to campaign, it sort of puts you at a disadvantage,'' Stuart said.

It is illegal for candidates to use campaign funds for personal use. Candidates are not allowed to dip into contributions to buy food or clothing, pay for housing or any expenses that would exist ''irrespective of the candidacy.''

Last year, the six-member Federal Elections Commission was divided on whether a candidate's salary should be considered a personal use of funds.

Here's how the candidates line up on the issues:

The environment: Mica wants to create an 18,000-acre preserve from the Ocala National Forest to Wekiwa Springs State Park. Stuart, who has environmental endorsements, criticized Mica's requirement for cost-benefit analyses from the Environmental Protection Agency, which has slowed EPA regulation.

Drugs: Stuart supports cuts in the drug czar's office, which he calls a political office, and supports putting more money into treatment. He called interdiction ''the right-wing angle.''

Mica said he supports denying foreign aid for countries that deny interdiction. He also wants to make sure federal money is being used for treatment programs that work.

Health care: Stuart calls the Republican plan to cut Medicaid and send it to states in the form of block grants as ''chickening out.'' He said poor children and the elderly in nursing homes would lose out.

Mica wants to cut fraud and waste from health-care programs to save them.

Education: Mica wants less money going to federal education employees in Washington and more spent in classrooms. Stuart said he wants to protect school lunches, immunizations and Head Start programs targeted by Republicans for cuts.

Mica takes the high road in responding to Stuart's criticism: ''I think my record speaks for itself.''